Photo: PEAKSTOCK / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / LDA / Science Photo Library via AFP
Giving podiatrists the ability to prescribe medication to patients will save time and money, according to Podiatry NZ.
The move will mean patients will not have to make a separate trip to the GP to get medication for painful foot and leg conditions.
Podiatry NZ chief executive Alison Molloy told Morning Report that it had been a long time coming, but it is likely to be another 18 months away.
"I think this is the third application that we have made over the last 10-to-15 years, so it's really good to get this finally, nearly over the line.
"The hurdles have been making sure the application is as it should be. The current regulatory authority, the Podiatrists Board, have put a huge amount of effort into getting this one right which has obviously resulted in a good outcome.
"The minister has got to take it to Cabinet this year. Once that's approved, the prescribing rights, the medicines list itself then has to be approved. We hope that will happen in the first six months of next year."
Molloy said the list that podiatrists will be able to prescribe was "fairly tight", and would include things such as analgesics, antibacterials, skin preparations, local anaesthetics and blood glucose monitoring.
Podiatrists will also need to undergo a training programme before they are able to prescribe medication.
Molloy believed the impact on patients would be huge, not just in terms of money saved, but with positive health outcomes, too.
"We have one patient who can't get in front of his/her GP for two weeks but has a septic toe.
"The horrible consequences of that are an infected bone and possible amputation. That's a worst case scenario, but that's $40 or $50,000 of taxpayer money that this particular action could save."
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